24 April 2024
Rallying under a Nazi Swastika Flag
On April 5th, 2024, the Helsinki Court of Appeal held that rallying under a Nazi swastika flag constituted an offense of incitement to hatred, namely, agitation against a group of population. Contrary to German law, Finnish law does not include any specific prohibition of symbols of this kind. It therefore leaves it open under which circumstances the public use of symbols such as those linked with the Nazi regime in fact constitute a criminal offense. Against this background, the Court of Appeal’s conclusion is to be welcomed. Had the outcome been different, this would have triggered a set of difficult questions of how to amend the regulatory framework in order to address this issue. The judgment may, however, still be appealed. Continue reading >>
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21 August 2023
A Plea for Proportionality
In recent months the burning of the Koran in Sweden has caused headlines and severe anger in many parts of the Muslim world as well as bewilderment across the EU as to why Sweden continues to permit the practice. The Government is currently looking into how the law can be changed to include a ban on the burning of the Koran in the Public Order Act. In this blog post, I explain why it might be wise to do so and how this might be done. Continue reading >>20 June 2020
Blocking Overblocking
Das französische Gesetz gegen Hasskriminalität im Internet ist zu weiten Teilen verfassungswidrig – das hat der Conseil Constitutionnel am Donnerstag entschieden. Was folgt aus der französischen Entscheidung für die verfassungsrechtliche Bewertung des deutschen NetzDG? Continue reading >>08 February 2018
The German NetzDG: A Risk Worth Taking?
While the NetzDG is unlikely to resolve all challenges surrounding social media and freedom of expression, and undoubtedly presents a certain risk of stifling expression online, I believe it is nonetheless a significant step in the right direction. Rather than undermine freedom of expression, it promises to contribute to more inclusive debates by giving the loud and radical voices less prominence. In any case, it appears reasonable to let this regulatory experiment play out and observe whether fears over a ‘chilling effect’ on free expression are borne out by the evidence. Continue reading >>06 February 2018
The Hierarchy of Hate: Mixed Signals in the Combat against Hate Speech
There is a number of varying thresholds to free speech regulation set out by relevant legal tools which can do nothing but confuse countries. Moreover, anti-hate speech legislation developed on an international and European level is marred by what I refer to as the hierarchy of hate, namely the arbitrary focus on particular types of hate speech, such as racist speech, and the simultaneous disregard for other genres such as homophobic speech. Continue reading >>
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09 August 2016